Grant report/2004

Last quarter of 2004

One grant was obtained rather unexpectedly this fall, when the Beck Foundation suggested they would be interested in supporting a "m:Wikijunior" project. They gave Wikimedia a US$10,000 grant to produce content for short encyclopedia-style children's books on specific subjects. The current plan is to create content for 48-page print books, on the subjects of Geography, Animals, and Astronomy[1]. (See the special report in the Out of the Projects section.)

In January 2005, we applied for and received a grant from the Lounsbery Foundation to 1) cover our daily operations, 2) enable us to launch our new Wikispecies project, and 3) enable us to continue improving our existing projects. We applied for around $48,000 and received $40,000.

Thank you very much for the trust offered by both Foundations.

There was also an important meeting with the Open Society Institute's Information Project in New York, during December. They invited the Wikimedia board to join them for part of their yearly board meeting, and are interested in helping Wikipedia expand in key languages and into the developing world. No specifics were decided on, but ideas for specific projects to better develop Arabic-language content or to increase the number and variety of contributors from African countries, were agreed to be particularly welcome.